The Leader Retreat: Before

This will be my third year attending the Bike & Build leader retreat at Elana Bannerman's house. First, I was a leader, then I was an alum, and this year, I'm both.

I've learned a few things from the past two retreats. I've procured a camping chair, since I'll be sitting on the floor for about 12 hours tomorrow. I've packed as little as I possibly can, and put my name on everything. I'm going to relax, realize that I won't get to know everyone well, and try to have fun (for once).

I'm glad they made the retreat mandatory, per my recommendation after the first year. Only 3 of the trip leaders for P2S'06 showed up, myself included. One of them quit before the start of the trip. It wasn't as useful as it could have been.

Not all of the other Bike & Build leaders have the same interests I do. I'm a perfectionist, overwhelmingly technical, detail oriented, and algorithmic. I'm also a cyclist, a fairly serious and experienced one, whose primary motive is going really, really fast. I'm not a touch-feely, be everybody's best friend type. I'm not a go out to the pub and drink type (that is, in fact, my idea of a horrible time). I'm also not a community leader, or someone with extensive service experience. I am what I am. People on Bike & Build trips, leaders and riders alike, come from all sorts of different backgrounds. I'm trying to stop letting people's shortcomings bother me, and make the best of the situation. (It's hard.)

I'll be giving a little presentation on routing. This is my specialty, and I'm glad to do it. I don't think I'll bore people with my "electronic cue sheets" project, but if people ask...